No fewer than 47 desperate job seekers in Cross River State have allegedly been defrauded of over N51.8 million by fraudsters who promised them appointments into the state’s local government service.
The victims reportedly parted with between N100,000 and N1.5 million each after being convinced that the payments would secure them government jobs.
The Cross River State Local Government Service Commission Chairman, Nsa Ekpo, disclosed this while explaining the findings of a panel set up to investigate alleged irregularities in the 2024/2025 recruitment exercise.
According to him, applicants seeking senior positions suffered the most, with some allegedly paying as much as N1.5 million for appointments that never existed.
The fraudsters were also said to have strengthened the deception by issuing fake employment letters to the victims, making them believe they had successfully secured government jobs.
Ekpo said the investigation uncovered attempts to manipulate the recruitment process, including efforts to smuggle names of relatives into the recruitment list.
Some of those allegedly favoured were reportedly not even residents of Cross River State.
The commission chairman said whistle-blowers played a major role in exposing the alleged fraud after they were assured that their identities and safety would be protected.
He said evidence submitted by some of the victims and whistle-blowers was subsequently verified by the investigative panel.
Ekpo added that efforts were underway to identify and prosecute those behind the alleged recruitment scam.
The commission has cancelled the 2024/2025 recruitment exercise, but 821 candidates who were cleared during the process will be retained.
The state is also preparing for a fresh recruitment exercise expected to begin within two weeks, with about 4,000 vacancies to be filled in the local government service.
Ekpo assured prospective applicants that the new exercise would not be commercialised.
He added that the final list of successful candidates, including the 821 retained from the cancelled exercise, would be made public as part of measures to ensure transparency.
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